The Truth About Sin from David and Bathsheba

“’Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean. “’Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. “’Make me to hear joy and gladness “’that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. “’Hide thy face from my sins “’and blot out all mine iniquities. “’Create in me a clean heart, O God, “’and renew a right spirit within me. “’Cast me not away from thy presence “’and take not thy holy spirit from me.

“’Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation “’and uphold me with thy free spirit. “’Then will I teach transgressors thy ways “’and sinners shall be converted unto thee. “’Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God. “’Thou God of my salvation and my tongue “’shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. “’O Lord, open thou my lips “’and my mouth shall show forth thy praise. “’For thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it.

“’Thou delightest not in burnt offering. “’The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, “’a broken and a contrite heart, O God, “’thou wilt not despise. “’Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion. “’Build thou the walls of Jerusalem. “’Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices “’of righteousness with burnt offering “’and whole burnt offering. “’Then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.’” Would you pray with me?

Our Father, thank you for Psalm 51, how it has been useful to us and profitable to us so many times in our Christian lives. And Lord, as we study these things and the surrounding events that have led to Psalm 51, please give us understanding and wisdom. Speak to us, teach us, help us to see the scriptures and the truths and principles found therein in a way that we can apply to ourselves.

Lord, guide me and help me to say what you have me to say in our short study here tonight. And Lord, give your people, give us all hearts that are open and receptive and inclined to receive the word in Jesus’ name, amen. Now, as I said, we’re gonna go back to 2 Samuel chapter 11. So if you’ll turn back to 2 Samuel chapter 11, we’re gonna go back to 2 Samuel chapter 11.

Now, the reason we’re gonna read these two together, Psalm 51 and 2 Samuel 11, is because 2 Samuel 11 and 12 give us the narrative of David’s sin and surrounding issues or surrounding events with Bathsheba. Psalm 51 gives us David, the inner working of David’s heart during those events or shortly after those events. And by comparing the two, we get a rare insight both into what God is doing in David’s heart and in how David is responding to his sin.

And there are so many, this particular Psalm is just full of truth, full of truth that will help us. And I want to point out those things to you, but in order to do that, you have to understand the narrative. You have to understand what brings David to Psalm 51 and what, because a lot of Psalm 51 is hinges on these events. And you compare the two and you can learn a great deal.

And it’s a good principle in Bible study when you try to get the context. You can do this also with the book of Acts and the epistles. You can compare one is a personal letter, one is the narrative of those events, the history of those events. And by comparing them, you can draw, you can get insight. So chapter 11 of 2 Samuel says this, and it came to pass after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him in all Israel and they destroyed the children of Ammon and besieged Rabba, but David carried still at Jerusalem.

The first warning is you will stay, I will stay out of sin by doing your duty. That has nothing to do with sin. By doing the things and occupying yourself in the good duties that you have, you reduce the opportunities to be involved or to be tempted that otherwise you would not be tempted with. David should be out at battle. In other words, he should be at work, but he’s not, he’s sitting at home.

David has duties before him, but he’s shirking his responsibility. That’s the first danger. Verse 2, and it came to pass in the evening tide that David arose up from off his bed and walked upon the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman washing herself, and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. Some people have criticized Bathsheba. What is Bathsheba doing, bathing on top of a roof?

Well number one, in this time roofs, roofs, somebody help me, Ms. Lynn is it roofs or roofs? Well you say roofs and roofs. She was going to give a nuanced, a nuanced. Roofs yeah, who’s from Michigan? Did you say roofs? Does your mom say roofs? She’s probably going to text right now. So some people criticize Bathsheba because she’s on the roof. Well number one, the roofs were flat.

Number two, and you think well she’s bathing, well it’s in all likelihood the lady is clothed. Because did you know in places where they don’t have indoor plumbing, they would wear something while they bathe. That’s the true thing in Cambodia. A lot of places they do that. So you can’t look at well what is Bathsheba doing out, no what is David doing out there lusting after a woman he had no business lusting after.

Don’t blame the woman, it ain’t her fault. She’s just, that’s probably where she took a bath. It’s probably the most private place in her house to truth be told.

Anyway I’m going to get on there. I don’t give them on a hobby horse here. Everybody in this room knows that there’s something behind what I’m saying that’s kind of the force behind it but it kind of annoys me when people blame women in cases like this. And I’ve heard it personally and it’s, anyway. All right.

And David verse three sent and inquired after the woman and one said, Is not this Bathsheba the daughter of Eliam the wife of Uriah the Hittite? And David sent messengers and took her. And she came in unto him and he lay with her for she was purified from her uncleanness and she returned unto her house and the woman conceived and sent unto David and said, I am with child.

And David sent to Joab saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David. And when David was coming to him Joab demanded of him how Joab did. David demanded of him how Joab did and how the people did and how the war prospered. And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house and wash thy feet and Uriah departed out of the king’s house and there followed him a mess of meat from the king.

You might say, well why is he trying to get him to go home? He’s trying to cover his tracks. But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord and went not down to his house. And when they had told David saying, Uriah went not down unto his house, David said unto Uriah, Camest thou not from thy journey? Why then didst thou not go down unto thine house?

And Uriah said unto David, The ark and Israel and Judah abide in tents, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are encamped in the open fields. Shall I then go into mine house to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife as thou liveth and as thy soul liveth? I will not do this thing. And David said to Uriah, Terri here today also and tomorrow I will let thee depart.

So Uriah bowed in Jerusalem that day and tomorrow. And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before him and he made him drunk. And that even he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord but went not down to his house. And it came to pass, so where’s David at right now? David is trying his best in the simplest, most direct way possible to hide what he has done to cover the fact that this lady is now expecting a child and to make it look like It’s her husband from her husband.

It’s not working out too well. So David now has to escalate. He feels like he has to escalate this. Verse 14, And it came to pass in the morning that David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. And he wrote in the letter saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle and retire ye from him that he may be smitten and die.

And it came to pass when Joab observed the city that he assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew that valiant men were. And the men of the city went out and fought with Joab. And there fell some of the people of the servants of David and Uriah the Hittite died also. Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war and charged the messenger saying, When thou hast made an end of telling the matters of the war unto the king, and if so be the king’s wrath arise, and he said unto thee, Wherefore approach ye so nigh unto the city when ye did fight?

Knew ye not that they would shoot from the wall? Who, Smota Bimelech, the son of Jerubisheth, did not a woman cast a piece of a millstone upon him from the wall that he died in Thebes? Why went ye nigh unto the wall? Then say thou, Thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. Just as a note, note that it wasn’t just Uriah that died as a result of this.

Other men died as a result of this ploy. Other wives were bereaved and widowed. You see how this is reverberating? It’s not going to, it’s rippling. David’s sin is rippling and it’s not, and it’s going to ripple for years. That’s the way sin goes. There’s no way to sin and it not ripple. Verse 22, So the messenger went and came and showed David all that Joab had sent him for.

And the messenger said unto David, Surely the men prevailed against us and came out and we were upon them even unto the entering of the gate. And the shooter shot from off the wall upon thy servants and some of the king’s servants be dead. And thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. Listen to David’s callous response. At this point his heart is hardened. Then David said unto the messengers, Thus shalt thou say unto Joab, Let not this thing displease thee for the sword devoureth one as well as another.

What a bunch of junk. What can you do, right? Tough luck. Things happen. Make thy battle more strong against the city and overthrow it and encourage thou him. Verse 26, And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. And when the morning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house and she became his wife and bear him a son.

Now the last verse of this chapter should, is designed I think by God to just jar us. Up to this point David has successfully hidden his sin from all but a single person and that’s God. And that truth relates to Psalm 51 which you’ll see in a minute. You’ll see next week. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord. I want to, again I’m just giving you some background here.

Here is a man that is known in scripture as a man after God’s own heart. Is David a believer? No question about it. David is absolutely a believer in Christ. Is David a man who has a heart unlike, rather has a heart that is toward God exceptional? Yes. This is David is a, David is a 100% a believer. David is a man who walks with God, who knows God, who loves God.

And yet here is a man, a believer, here is a man who walks with God committing adultery, hiding his sin, making another person drunk, involving others in his sin, committing murder, and then playing the hypocrite. You know what this shows us? In two different ways, this is what is called an a fortiori argument. Has anybody heard of that term? It means to argue from the stronger. It’s Latin.

But this is something you find in scripture. The reason I mention it is because this is something you find in scripture. What it means is David is set forth before us as an extreme example in two ways. So that whatever principles we can see about David in the extreme example, it also applies then to every lesser example. Right? That’s the way it goes. This is an a fortiori argument.

So in what ways is this example, is David set forth as an example? In a positive way, in a negative way, in a positive way. In the negative way, it’s like this. David is set forth as an extreme example of a believer sinning. I know we have a tendency to look at someone who sins big, and we say they can’t be saved. This is the go to verse that says, oh yes he can be.

You name the sin. Oh yes he can be. You say, well that person, look what that person did. He can’t be saved. We have a tendency, we Baptists seem to have a tendency to do that. We see if some person does something stupid, we say, oh he just can’t be saved. You just stand by because one of these days you’re going to do something similar and you’re going to be reminded of that fact and you’re going to remember that you are saved and that you’re going to remember Mr. David, not this one, the other one.

You’re going to remember David stood as an extreme example of a believer who walked with God and yet sinned big, big, big. But it also reminds us in the negative that just because you and I are walking with God today that is absolutely no guarantee that we will not or could not likewise stupendously fail. How do you know? Because that’s exactly what happened to David. We’re certainly not, we’re certainly, I would say, I’m certainly not in love with the Lord like David was, at least I don’t think so.

David is one of the best examples of that in scripture. So if David, who is a man who believed in the Lord, who was a believer, in fact in Romans 4, David is cited, his words are cited in the arguments of justification by faith. Even as David describeth the blessedness of the man that God imputeth righteousness without works in Romans 4, he set forth as an example of that.

So you can’t say David is not, David is saved and David walks with God. So people who are saved and people who generally walk with God can absolutely blow it in stupendous fashion. And that applies to us as well. It should be a warning. It should be a jarring warning to us. That’s in the negative. But we know that David repents and David gets forgiven. That’s what Psalm 51 is all about.

So here’s the positive a fortiori argument, which is this. If David in this extreme example could be forgiven and be restored after he had done all of these gross and wicked sins, so can we. God can restore you and me, though we blow it in royal fashion. I don’t know about you, but that’s encouraging to me. Look at chapter 12. Before we get to chapter 12, let me ask you a question.

About how much time has elapsed from the beginning of this issue to the time you get to chapter 12 and Nathan’s knocking on David’s door? Any guesses? About nine months, probably 40 weeks. That’s been on Anna’s mind a lot.

So think about it now. I’m pausing because I want some of these things to sink in. A lot of times meditation is what unlocks the door to some of these things. David has killed Uriah, has committed adultery, hidden his sin, played the hypocrite, got someone drunk, all of those things. And for nine whole months that Bathsheba has been expecting this baby, David has not repented He has not confessed.

He has for nine months been out of fellowship with God. Can a Christian do that? Yep, he did. He moved on. How could someone, that’s exactly what happened. He was out of fellowship with God for that long. And the truth is that we are out of fellowship with God so long as there is an outstanding sin between ourselves and God that we hide or that we refuse to confess and turn from.

So whatever space or period of time that is, nine months, nine years, whatever, we will be out of fellowship with God so long as we are aware of that sin and refuse to turn from it. Nine months for David. Now look at chapter 12 verse 1. And the Lord sent Nathan unto David. I love that. There’s so much comfort in that verse. You know why? God could have just left him, but he didn’t.

The Lord, because of David’s relationship to God, because David is a believer, because David is a follower of the Lord God Almighty, because David is a man who has a heart after God, because of that, God is not going to leave David alone. The Lord God took the initiative to intervene and not allow him any longer to remain in this condition out of fellowship with God. That’s comforting, should be.

God’s not going to leave him alone and leave him in this place. And he came unto him, now hold on, let me say one other thing about that. It is comforting to a child of God that God’s not going to let you keep, just persist in your sin. That’s comforting. But the way God intervenes is not going to be pleasant. He’s not going to come alongside like a big brother and say, oh, come on now.

This isn’t fun, is it? Come, have fun with Jesus. It’s better over here. Because the Lord is not happy. He is displeased. End of the last chapter, right? Here’s what Nathan says in verse 1. There were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had brought and nourished up.

That’s a little baby, a little girl lamb, right? The ewe is a girl sheep. And with his children, it did eat of his own meat and drank of his own cup. It’s just gross. So nasty. And lay in his bosom and was unto him as a daughter. And there came a traveler unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd to dress for the wayfaring man that was coming to him, but took the poor man’s lamb and dressed it for the man that was coming to him.

And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man. Being a shepherd, he felt this intensely. And he said unto Nathan, as the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die, and he shall restore the lamb fourfold because he did this thing and because he had no pity. I’ve often wondered as I read five and six, if he puts him to death, how is he going to restore it fourfold?

But David’s thought about that too. I saw that grin. How’s he going to, but maybe he does it before. I don’t know. Maybe David’s just saying stuff. I don’t know. Verse seven. This is one of the most famous passages in the Old Testament. Here’s what it says. And Nathan said to David, thou art the man. The guy who took the guy’s little ewe lamb and slaughtered it, even though he had tons and tons of lambs he could have used for his visitor, you’re that guy.

Thereby David condemned himself. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel and delivered thee out of the hand of Saul. And I gave thee my master’s house and my master’s wives into thy bosom and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah. And if that had been too little, I would have more over given unto these such and such things. Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord to do evil in his sight?

Thou has killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword and has taken his wife to be thy wife and has slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Look at this principle. Did David ever pick up a sword and raise it against Uriah? No. You know, sometimes we have a tendency to excuse our sin because we are not the person directly doing the thing. But we are causing the thing.

And the Lord counts it as our sin. The Lord does not view it as David might view it as we sometimes view it. Verse number 10. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house, because thou hast despised me and taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife, thus saith the Lord. Behold I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes and give them unto thy neighbor.

And he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this son. For thou didst it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel. So here’s what, remember one of the key things that this believer did is he hid his sin. And I want to remind you of something. This will help you. Please listen. This will help you. Just remember that God is not in the business of covering for your sin.

That’s not the way he works. We think, well I can just confess it and if I confess it and repent of it then maybe God will cover for me and he won’t let it get out. Forget it. That’s not the way he does things. Proof is right here. He’s not interested in helping you and me save face and keep up appearances. He’s not interested. And you know what?

The reason why he tells us this ahead of time in scripture? That when we stupendously blow it, we can expect that the Lord’s going to pull the sheet off so everybody can see. So not only are we accountable to God, but there’s going to be a shame factor that comes along with that. And he told us beforehand to put fear in us so that we would remember that before we sin.

The Lord’s not going to cover for us. That’s a good deterrent, is it not? It is a good deterrent. Verse 13, I love this. Please pay close attention to verse 13. First of all, look how quick David responds. You’re the man. God’s going to judge you. David immediately says, and this shows his heart. And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. No hym haul, no excuse, no you don’t understand, no I did it because, none of that.

He owns it entirely. Now notice the next sentence though. And Nathan said unto David, the Lord also hath put away thy sin, thou shalt not die. David was worthy of death. Now he couldn’t be put to death in this way because there weren’t witnesses, according to the law. But God could have killed him justly, according to the scripture. Well what I want you to see though is that David’s forgiveness, and this will come back to Psalm 51 next week, but David’s forgiveness.

Notice how I have sinned against the Lord, the Lord hath put away thy sin. Just like that. How quick. There’s no penance, there’s no proof, there’s no, you do these things or a trial period or provisional, or provisional, no none of that. It is God instantly, completely, and immediately forgives David entirely of the sin because he confessed. Done. We’re going to see this immediate instant, there’s no like, well let’s pay God off, or let’s make it better, or let’s make up for it.

None of that. That’s not, God does not forgive people because they make up for it, or attempt to. God forgives people by grace. They merely come to him in confession and contrition. And that instant, they’re forgiven. Verse 14, notice what Nathan says. Alright, you’ve been forgiven, that’s this word, how be it, how be it means even though that’s the case, you’ve been forgiven now, this is what, listen, Christians suffer with this so, so much.

I’m forgiven. I’ve asked for forgiveness, I’ve confessed, but what now? Is all of the bad fallout going to happen? I confessed, it should be clear, nothing bad should happen as a result of my sin. Wrong. How be it because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die. How could God say that?

If God said he forgave him immediately and now he’s saying his baby’s going to die, how could he do that? He is forgiven. Surely by God’s grace and mercy, David’s relationship with God is restored. But that does not negate the consequences of his action. This is another reason that should strike fear into us beforehand. God doesn’t fix the fallout from it. And that fallout doesn’t just affect me, it affects people around me also.

What I want you to see from verse 14, where I’m almost finished, is this. Sin always brings reproach upon God’s name because we are called by his name. Even secret sin. Nathan as the prophet was concerned about God’s name and how this would tarnish God’s name and give opportunity for people to blaspheme. Now what’s interesting is you get to Psalm 51 and David doesn’t mention this at all.

Let’s keep reading. Verse 15, and Nathan departed unto his house and the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bear unto David and it was very sick. David therefore besought God for the child and David fasted and went in and lay all night upon the earth. And the elders of his house arose and went to him to raise him up from the earth but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them.

And it came to pass, verse 18, on the seventh day that the child died and the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead. For they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive we spake unto him and he would not hearken unto our voice. How will he then vex himself if we tell him that the child is dead? But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead.

Therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead. Now notice verse 20, then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his apparel and came into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he came to his own house and when he required they did set bread before him and he did eat. You know what David has done?

He has accepted God’s forgiveness. He’s not trying to do penance. He’s not trying to make up for it. Restitution is a real thing but in this case restitution is not possible. He’s dead. He has accepted and believed that God has forgiven him. He’s not beating himself up, continually begging for forgiveness and because he accepts that forgiveness and the truth of God’s instant restoration of his fellowship with David, he’s able to go worship God.

He is this murdering, lying, thieving, adulterous hypocrite is instantly restored into fellowship with God. That’s just remarkable. Some people live in such a way that the problem is they never do accept the psychobabbles like you never have forgiven yourself. That’s not the problem. The problem is not that we don’t forgive ourselves. The problem is we don’t believe that God has forgiven us. That’s why we continually beat ourselves up and that’s a hard thing.

I’ll be honest. The shame of it all when we sin and that kind of thing, we carry that and then we also have to deal with the real life consequences of that shame and the reproach that comes with sin which is why the Lord warns us ahead of time. It’s better not to do it. But we still have to deal with that and so we beat ourselves up.

But before God, we’re restored already. Now look at verse number 21. Then His servants, then said His servants unto Him, what thing is this that thou hast done? Thou didst weep and fast and weep for the child while it was yet alive, but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread. And He said, while the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, who can tell whether God will be gracious to me that the child may live?

But now that He is dead, wherefore should I fast? Can I bring Him back again? I shall go to Him, but He shall not return to me. Verse 24, this is another remarkable verse if you think about it. And David comforted Bathsheba his wife and went in unto her and lay with her and she bare a son and he called his name Solomon. This is the same guy, Solomon.

You know, one of the greatest kings of Israel. He was barely on the heels of David’s most stupendous flop. And the Lord loved him. I don’t know how to describe this truth. We sin against God. We have to live with the effects of it. We beat ourselves up over it. The Lord works in our heart because He’s faithful. We confess it. We repent with contrition. God instantly and totally completely forgives us and instantly restores us to fellowship with Him.

And it’s like you read verse 24 and it’s like the Lord says, all right, it’s done. Move on. You can’t go back and fix it. The only thing you can do is believe God for forgiveness and restoration and move on. Once the sin is done, confessed, repented of, and forgiven, the only thing to do is to move on from there because you can’t undo it. The amazing thing is that even out of all of the sin, yet God starts at that point and does something great.

It’s amazing. It’s one of the miracles of God’s providence is that God says, okay, it’s done. You’re restored. You confess. Now, come on, take my hand. Let’s move on. And the next baby is Solomon. So here’s the point. You’re not shot for the rest of your life. You’re not marred. You’re not broken. You’re not useless. You’re not shelved. No, you take God’s hand and you continue to walk with Him from there.

You pick up and you keep going. You don’t just say, well, I’m just, no, you can’t do that because that’s not faith. Faith says, God, you said if I confess and repent, you would forgive me. You’ve forgiven me. The only thing I can’t stop following you, I can’t stop walking with you, get up and walk. You know what the Lord will do? The Lord by His grace will do good things, great things through you.

Let’s pray.